WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Invisible Man, in theaters now.

The Invisible Man sets up a fascinating premise, moving the classic horror villain into the modern era by making his tactics and attributes perfect for gaslighting his ex, Cecilia. But while it takes that premise and uses it to great effect early in the film, it eventually loses those elements and becomes something more cookie-cutter.

The Invisible Man starts as a strong psychological horror film, and it should have stayed that way instead of becoming the paint by numbers movie it evolves into by the third act.

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THE PARANOIA PROBLEM

Elisabeth Moss as Cee in The Invisible Man

When The Invisible Man opens, Cecilia is forced to try and escape from her abusive boyfriend's home. As she tries to silently move through the house, the film focuses on empty hallways, forcing both Cecilia and the audience to fear anything that could be around the corner. It sets the stage for the kind of paranoia that Cecilia will be going through for the rest of the film and introduces the kind of tension that fuels The Invisible Man in its better moments. Once Cecilia escapes, Adrian seemingly kills himself. While the world believes that he's dead, Cecilia refuses to accept this and continues to fear his presence.

This continued element could have given The Invisible Man a greater sense of ambiguity. It would have been compelling for the film to continue in this direction for a longer period of time, forcing the viewers and Cecilia to question her perception of the world. For one thing, It would have proven how effective of a manipulator Adrian is. His gaslighting of Cecilia (and the world at large) would have extended to the viewer as well, forcing everyone to consider whether or not what they're seeing is actually what's happening.

The film could have even forced the audience to briefly doubt Cecilia's perspective and wonder if the toll of Adrian's abuse actually did have a major lingering impact on her behavior and way of seeing the world. It would have made the confirmation that Adrian is indeed alive all the more vindicating, and would have spurred the audience to root for Cecilia even more in the latter half of The Invisible Man.

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WHERE IT GOES WRONG

Oliver Jackson-Cohen as Adrian Griffin in The Invisible Man

Instead of drawing out the fear that the idea of Adrian's sheer presence could give, he is revealed to the audience almost immediately into his campaign on Cecilia. This removes one level of suspense, with the audience now completely aware that Adrian is around. Instead of being terrified that he could be anywhere, everywhere, or nowhere, the audience just looks for things that are strange, and can usually spot his handiwork.

This becomes especially prevalent as The Invisible Man continues, especially with how non-stop his mental assault on Cecilia becomes late in the film. Another aspect that detracts from the suspense is that now he's revealed, the film has him act out in more and more overt ways. He destroys a house in a way that no single person could have and assumes that everyone will just think it's Cecilia. He murders people in public and seems to have no problem fighting multiple guards. He's no longer the terrifying idea that could be in any corner.

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Adrian goes all out trying to make Cecilia's life terrible, and all it does is take away the suspense from The Invisible Man. The movie opens so strongly, establishing a real and palpable sense of tension around Cecilia and her situation. But by the time of the third act, it's become a more conventional action-horror film. There's no reason to really fear the Invisible Man because he's just punching his way through people in the most obvious way possible. Even if the audience can't see him, he's lost everything that actually made him a frightening presence to contend with. What began as a genuinely tense psychological horror becomes a basic scary movie, and is far less frightening or memorable as a result.

Written and directed by Leigh Whannell, The Invisible Man stars Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Aldis Hodge, Harriet Dyer and Storm Reid. The film opens Friday nationwide.

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